Modern Stereo options for the W124/R129

[alabbasi]

What are your thoughts on this?

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[w124fanMI]

I thought long and hard about the head unit in my w124. I listen to a lot of CDs. The Becker CD unit from the mid-90s doesn’t quite have the “feel.” I opted for the Continental and have been very happy with the looks, performance and cell phone Bluetooth connectivity.

This Blaupunkt looks simple and would fit in with the 80s and early 90s MBs.

 

[195910]

What are your thoughts on this?

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This blaupunkt looks period-correct and has all the modern features. Any info on the power output ?

Just don't throw away the original radio!

 

[gsxr]

What are your thoughts on this?

@alabbasi , this question greatly depends if the car in question came with a Becker 1432 which is quite difficult to upgrade to an aftermarket head unit, vs a 1492 that is relatively easy to upgrade.

 

[alabbasi]

@gsxr - In my case, it's the 98 SL500 so it would be the latter. It seems that the US does not support DAB so I have two questions in my mind:
1) Does this particular radio support analogue signals
2) Is it plug and play as far as connecting wires or do I have to cut wires

 

[gsxr]

Very likely plug+play assuming the 1998 R129 has the same e;ectrical connector as the usual 1492. There's a slight chance you may need to reverse the +12v BAT and +12v Switched leads, but the rest should be the same.

Not sure about the tuner, it claims FM / RDS but I'd try to find confirmation it will receive USA frequencies before buying.

 

[duuder]

@alabbasi , this question greatly depends if the car in question came with a Becker 1432 which is quite difficult to upgrade to an aftermarket head unit, vs a 1492 that is relatively easy to upgrade.

i think the the Becker 1432 were on earlier cars if im not mistaken? i was fortunate enough to wait to find a good installer and he gave me back the oem unit in one piece and didnt cut any wires

i got a cd500 nakamichi from a member here and its been pretty nice. I used this receiver for Bluetooth

 

[gsxr]

i think the the Becker 1432 were on earlier cars if im not mistaken? i was fortunate enough to wait to find a good installer and he gave me back the oem unit in one piece and didnt cut any wires

1432 systems were used on all USA model years 1991-1993. These are the systems that are not plug+play to upgrade. Most any car that came with a 1432, if there's an aftermarket HU installed, expect both butchered wiring and worse-than-stock audio quality, unless it was a serious high-dollar installation (which is exceedingly rare).

 

[duuder]

it was worth it to wait to find a good installer as i've seen the threads mentioning how difficult it could be, i was really surprised to see the stock components and wiring in good shape when i got it back

edit: ill try to take a pic of the oem unit, its in a box somewhere in my cluster of storage in the garage

 

[Phlyer]

I installed a Pioneer DEH-3400UB in my '91 300E some years ago, and although it doesn't have Bluetooth or cell phone features it has worked well for me.
I found a donor car in a local wrecking yard at the time to harvest the original amps and wire connectors that are located under the rear package shelf. I gutted one of the donor amps to use as a connection point where I connected the output from the radio using a wire harness I fabricated to the original speakers without disrupting or otherwise tampering with the original speaker wiring. I used a AA battery to determine left front speaker, right front speaker and so on to make the proper wiring.

 

[2phast]

In my E320 wagon, I installed the Continental, which is an inexpensive head unit that aesthetically match's the other components in the dash. It's main claim is its A2DP and USB input for reading music from a USB drive. It is also inexpensive. My E320 has the factory Bose and it integrates without issue although, I did have to de-pin the constant 12 v and switched 12 v from the factory harness and swap their positions.

 

[BRN9121]

I have the Continental as well, very happy with it.

 

[Jlaa]

My biggest gripe about the Continental is that the UI spells "DIALING" incorrectly as "DIALLING" when one makes a phone call.

 

[sheward]

The Blaupunkt, the Continental, the Nakamichi, and some old Kenwoods all look proper in the W124. I have a Nakamichi (thanks, Jonathan).

Anyone else have any interesting H.U.s mounted?

 

[gsxr]

Nak CD-700... one of the few high-end decks with true analog knobs for all controls. No rotary encoders!

 

[Jlaa]

Also non-rotary encoder volume knob equipped -- from the 1990 Alpine Brochure (looks to be mounted in a w126?)
Note that you can add Bluetooth to these easily with parts from OLD SCHOOL ALPINE REPAIR EUROPE: ALPINE Bluetooth M-BUS emulator | Old School ALPINE Re

 

[duuder]

Nak CD500 that's in my car

 

[sheward]

I have the same, or nearly the same unit.

Do you or anyone else know how to keep all the preset sound settings when I turn the car off? I'm guessing it's a factor of how the two power wires are connected. I believe my amp turns on the head unit. I'd love it if I am just unaware of a user feature.

 

[doolar]

The Blaupunkt Frankfurt RCM 82 DAB is the best modern option right now for our cars IMO, if you want full functionality with a period correct look:



If you want Carplay, unfortunately there are either shitty Chinese Alibaba variants, or the incredibly expensive for what it is Porsche one, it fits our cars, but the screen is too small, it is very reflective and it's just not a great unit, and it comes with Porsche pricing around $1200:



I'm waiting on the Blaupunkt London 500, when it arrives I will compare it to the Frankfurt and decide on one or the other:

 

[duuder]

I have the same, or nearly the same unit.

Do you or anyone else know how to keep all the preset sound settings when I turn the car off? I'm guessing it's a factor of how the two power wires are connected. I believe my amp turns on the head unit. I'd love it if I am just unaware of a user feature.

If you're referring to the cd500, my presets only reset when the battery is disconnected

 

[doolar]

One of the benefits of the Blaupunkt Frankfurt is that it keeps all settings even if there is no power at all to the HU. A good thing indeed if you want to disconnect the battery for storage etc.

 

[gsxr]

Do you or anyone else know how to keep all the preset sound settings when I turn the car off? I'm guessing it's a factor of how the two power wires are connected. I believe my amp turns on the head unit. I'd love it if I am just unaware of a user feature.

Drew, some of the new Conti head units require the +12 Battery and +12 Switched leads to be reversed (relative to the 124 chassis factory female connector). Otherwise, you lose all your presets every time the ignition is shut off. I had the same issue with my Conti until I checked the wiring diagram, and by golly, they are backwards! No clue why Conti did this... might have been an engineering error. Worked great after I popped the 2 wires out of the plastic connector and swapped them.

 

[sheward]

Wow, There's a good start. I could accomplish that by removing the head unit. Ther's not much room for anything in that headunit cavity.

 

[2phast]

Drew, some of the new Conti head units require the +12 Battery and +12 Switched leads to be reversed (relative to the 124 chassis factory female connector). Otherwise, you lose all your presets every time the ignition is shut off. I had the same issue with my Conti until I checked the wiring diagram, and by golly, they are backwards! No clue why Conti did this... might have been an engineering error. Worked great after I popped the 2 wires out of the plastic connector and swapped them.

Exact same problem on the W210, had to swap the constant 12 volt and the switched 12 volt in the vehicle harness

 

[doolar]

Wow, There's a good start. I could accomplish that by removing the head unit. Ther's not much room for anything in that headunit cavity.

And another plus for the Frankfurt, its a shallow depth unit, about half of a normal HU. Modern electronics and no mech inside.

 

[R129 UK]

This is one I've been looking at for my SL but I can't justify the price new and there aren't many about on the secondhand market:




Similar to the Frankfurt in an earlier post.

 

[doolar]

This is one I've been looking at for my SL but I can't justify the price new and there aren't many about on the secondhand market:

View attachment 199464


Similar to the Frankfurt in an earlier post.

Yea they sure know their market with the pricing, but they are the only company making units like these.

The Blaupunkts are quite often on sale on Amazon in Europe, so keep an eye out there. The Frankfurt usually hovers around $450 mark in Europe which is quite ok and well below MSRP of around $600.

 

[gerryvz]

Nak CD-700... one of the few high-end decks with true analog knobs for all controls. No rotary encoders!

View attachment 199415

Becker North America has finally FIXED the rotary encoder issue when rebuilding / refurbishing BE-1492/1692 systems. They have substituted in a new part under the volume knob that DOES NOT fail anymore. I've been running my rebuilt Becker (where I also had them add Bloot) and zero issues whatsoever.

A previous rebuild some years back (when I lived in Texas) they just replaced the rotary encoder with a stock unit, which failed within a year or two, and required periodic "maintenance" with a spray can of de-oxidizer, which had moderately decent result, but was not a viable long-term solution. I am glad that Becker finally did their homework and came up with a part that is now failure-proof.

 

[gerryvz]

Exact same problem on the W210, had to swap the constant 12 volt and the switched 12 volt in the vehicle harness

I can also confirm this. I used a Conti unit for a few days and it was good, but decided ultimately to go back to a factory unit, and sold my barely-used Conti unit to a forum member.

 

[R129 UK]

Yea they sure know their market with the pricing, but they are the only company making units like these.

The Blaupunkts are quite often on sale on Amazon in Europe, so keep an eye out there. The Frankfurt usually hovers around $450 mark in Europe which is quite ok and well below MSRP of around $600.

That is still way more than I'm willing to pay for something that I rarely if ever use, I drive my car to listen to the engine.

I took out some relatively modern ugly DAB thing and bought this off Facebook Marketplace for £15 which was an absolute bargain

 

[duuder]

This is one I've been looking at for my SL but I can't justify the price new and there aren't many about on the secondhand market:

View attachment 199464


Similar to the Frankfurt in an earlier post.

This looks really nice!!

 

[yevgenievich]

Are there plugs still for sale that would allow to replace becker 1432 unit without cutting wires? Will be bypassing trunk receiver but keeping factory amp.

 

[gsxr]

Are there plugs still for sale that would allow to replace becker 1432 unit without cutting wires? Will be bypassing trunk receiver but keeping factory amp.

I don't know of anything that plugs into factory 1432 connectors. You may be able to retrofit something without actually cutting wires, but it won't be easy.

 

[doolar]

Blaupunkt is getting closer to release the London 500, they have a lot of specs and info on their German site:

London 500 - Blaupunkt

Your Car Infotainer: DAB+/FM | Bluetooth | Apple CarPlay® (wireless) | 3,5" Touch-Farbdisplay | Digital Sound Processor (DSP) | Toslink

blaupunkt.com

 

[alabbasi]

What are your thoughts on this?

I ended up buying a Milano on my last trip to the UK. It looks identical to the one above but without the DAB and is a little cheaper.

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I've not installed it yet, but the plan is for it to go in the 500E.